The Trials of Psyche
by Death101- Fox Version
Summary: Holid#2 ONESHOT NON-YAOI After returning from Halloween Town, Trunks, Keiko, and Kaiba struggle to return to normal life, but when their friends go missing on Valentine's Day, it's up to the three to complete the trials and get their friends back! Rated PG-13 on safe side. PG on slack side.


**WARNING: I do not support Yaoi in any way! So Trunks and Goten's attitude clearly follows that and it may seem harsh. I'm sorry but that's how I write. I will not change that so if you don't like it, please leave. Thank you.**

**Important information: Valentines is different in Japan from here in North America. On Feb 14 people give each other chocolate. On White Day, March 14, you give out gifts to the people who gave you chocolates, if you want. At least that's my understanding. Google for more information.**

_Disclaimer: I am not Akira Toriyama, something Takahashi, or the maker of Yu Yu Hakusho._

**A/N: A sequel of sorts to Lock, Shock, and Barrel.**

**Roses are red.**

**Violets are blue.**

**I hope you like this story**

**Made just for you.**

**-Death101 – Fox Version**

The Trials of Psyche 

**Part 1: Foreshadowing Unease**

**H**e thought he had recovered from his adventure into the land of the insane and haunted. After all, it had been three months since the creatures in Halloween Town had mistaken him for the little skeleton boy Barrel. The nightmares about the many horrible events he was forced to relive had stopped. The bruises from falling down the stairs and rolling into the town hall had vanished within days. His friends stopped asking for the real reason that he had shown up late to the Halloween Party in a badly torn costume. New Year's Eve and Christmas had passed without a problem. And most of all, he hadn't even thought about the switch up after he destroyed his skeleton costume a day after the nightmares stopped. However, as February 14th approached, Trunks couldn't help but feel some unease.

A large part of him tried to believe that he was only worried because of a meeting scheduled on that day. One day his mom had looked at the sales and noticed that they were not as high as they could be. For a couple of minutes, Trunks had tried to explain that while many people were using capsules, a large amount of people weren't because they were leery of them and that Capsule Corps didn't have the connections to spread them worldwide. After his mother had ignored him and ordered him to bring up the sales he did the only thing he could do. Try to get a partnership with the other company. The only appointment he could get was the 14th at 3 o'clock. While a large part of him was sure that he was worried only because the fate of his company might rest on that meeting, a small part said it wasn't the meeting but the holiday.

It wasn't like he hadn't survived through Valentines and White Day before. Once he turned 13, it actually became one of his favourite holidays after Halloween because of all the chocolate he would get. The fact that his sister Bra nearly turned the kitchen upside down making chocolate every year since she started going to school didn't worry him. He was used to just shrugging when his mom started asking him who he was taking out that night. This year he wasn't even surprised when his grandmother mistook Goten for a girl and asked if they were dating because his best friend had grown his hair out again. These were perfectly normal occurrences (except for Goten being mistaken as a girl.) And yet Trunks couldn't help but feel worried as he crossed out the days on his calendar.

Somehow, he just knew that February 14 was going to be as bad as his previous Halloween, and if he was going to be honest with himself, he knew that the meeting with a CEO of another company wasn't behind it.

**Part 1: Foreshadowing Paranoia**

**A**fter his trip to the island of madness, Kaiba had been very careful to avoid any repeats of the adventure or repercussions. To avoid having his adventure become public knowledge he replied to the news story that said he had gone missing by stating that he had in fact been working in the sublevels of his company all along. Not only did this show his company in a better light but it also got rid of a harpy for him. To avoid any more people mistaking him for a small devil costume wearing child named Lock, he ordered to have the costume destroyed. He avoided any nightmares caused by the hellish machine that showed him his worse memories by worked overtime. Probably more than he should have. Finally, he simply avoided thinking about it by focusing on the upcoming meeting with another company whose technology could be of invaluable use. But three months later, Kaiba started looking over his shoulder.

It started as a simple thing. He'd look behind him to watch through the huge window in his office when a bird flew by as he tried to think his way through the many figures he saw daily. A couple of days into February, he started feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he would turn, expecting to see someone. Sometimes someone would be there and looking for him. More often there wasn't. As February 14th crept closer, he found himself looking over his shoulder more and more. Sometimes because he sensed something. More often he found himself looking over his shoulder just because. Even while he was buried in work, he still found time to look over his shoulder, no longer looking for birds but something else. Something he didn't want to admit he was looking for. Something that carried arrows and was one of the many symbols of love.

He knew he was being an idiot and wouldn't admit that he was looking out for an insane cupid. He reasoned it was just stress caused by the kidnapping and the approaching meeting, but as February 14th crept closer, Kaiba's nerves were reaching the breaking point.

**Part 1: Foreshadowing Fear**

**P**eace and quiet were two of Keiko's favourite things, but since she had returned from a dimension not even her boyfriend's boss knew about, both were in short supply. Three months has passed since her trip and her nightmares had faded. At first she was just picturing the memories from past years that she had locked away for fear of her sanity. Then she started dreaming about her time in Halloween Town and how she had been confused with a small, green skinned witch named Shock. Whenever she awoke she wondered if the other two people who had been kidnapped were having similar problems. She hadn't seen them since they had split up at the town square. Soon the dreams stopped and she forgot about the experience.

Then, as January faded into February, the nightmares returned and took a turn in a new direction. Instead of dreaming about her past and previous holiday experience, Keiko was dreaming about what shouldn't be. Cupids with flaming and fatal arrows filled her dreams causing her to scream and make her parents rush into her room in the middle of the night.

Her only comfort was that she was not a psychic like her friends so her dreams could not come true. Unfortunately, her boyfriend, Yusuke, overlooked this fact and had started to trail her like a puppy on a lease that was super-glued to her hand. As February 14th, the day of cupids firing their arrows at couples, approached Yusuke became clingier and clingier.

To make matters worse, the dreams kept visiting her and soon she saw that the cupids weren't aiming at her but someone else. Try as she might, Keiko couldn't remember who. This frustration grew as her amount of sleep decreased due to the dreams, but Keiko was sure that somehow it could all come to ahead on the day she was starting to dread.

**Part 2: Meeting with a Friend**

**P**art of him just wanted to hide under the covers for the day, but Trunks eventually crawled out of bed. As he rubbed the sleep from his blue eyes and glanced at the date on his calendar, he felt his unease return at full force. The day he was dreading had arrived. Because he was still struggling to believe that it was the meeting that was making him worry, he spent an extra five minutes in the bathroom making sure that he was well dressed and that his purple hair was neat and tidy. After eating a small breakfast by saiyan standards, he packed up his presentation, put on his winter coat, took a deep breath, and walked out the door.

Snow covered the ground in a soft blanket and the light from the sun reflecting off it was almost blinding. However, Trunks barely even noticed as he started to walk. He had barely made it to the road when he heard someone shout. At once, Trunks felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he lowered into a defensive crouch as he searched for the source of the noise. As a tall, shaggy, black haired man in an orange coat ran up to him, Trunks moved out of his crouch and his searching frown turned into a grin. Once the man was close enough, Trunks said, "I thought you had training today."

Goten's brown eyes were wide and grinning. "Mom dragged Dad into town to go shopping."

Trunks winced in sympathy. He had been forced into going shopping with Goten's mother, Chi Chi, and his own mother, Bulma, when he was younger so he knew just how dangerous the mall could be and how out of control Chi Chi and Bulma could be when they went shopping. However, he was sure that Chi Chi had just gone shopping because Goten had complained about it. When he asked, his friend nodded and said, "She thinks that Dad needs some new clothes."

Again Trunks winced. "Ouch. At least he won't have to carry a lot of bags since most of the clothes probably won't fit."

Goten laughed. "That's true. The last time she made him carry a stack so high it scrapped the ceiling."

Trunks laughed. "You should have seen the load Bra came back with when she dragged my dad. We could barely fit it into the house and that was just shopping 'for fun.'"

They continued to laugh until Trunks' alarm went off on his watch. After fumbling with his many papers, he was finally able to turn off the alarm and face his friend.

"Got a hot date?"

Trunks shook his head. "I wish. I have to give a sales pitch to another company."

"What's the difference other than the CEO isn't a cute girl?"

Rolling his eyes, Trunks let out a very sarcastic laugh. "Ha ha. Very funny. Although I don't remember the fate of my company's sales resting on whether I can get a girl to date me or not."

Now it was Goten's time to wince in sympathy. "When's your appointment?"

"Three."

Goten frowned and looked at his own watch. "But it's only one."

Trunks nodded. "I know but if I stick around any longer I'm going to go nuts and if I walk to the other company I should get there on time. Speaking of which," Trunks started to walk towards the sidewalk, "I'd better get going."

Goten nodded and followed. "You'll have an hour to spare when you get there."

"Enough time to get a coffee to smooth my nerves and warm up."

"And maybe flirt with the waitress?" Goten asked with a grin.

Trunks nodded and grinned back. "And introduce her to my friend who can't get to a date on time to save his life?"

Goten frowned as he paused to look both ways before crossing a street. "I can so get to a date on time!"

Trunks laughed as he continued walking without looking. "Really? And what was the lovely lady doing when you arrived on your last date?"

"That waiter started it."

Trunks laughed again. "Face it, Goten. You couldn't arrive at a date on time if the world depended on it."

His friend crossed his arms as he slowly caught up. "One day you'll get hit by a car because you didn't look both ways and I'll be there laughing it up."

Trunks laughed again as he walked out into a street, once again without looking. "Sure, and that'll be the day when you get to a date on time."

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he froze. The unease he had been hiding jumped out and caused him to stare wide-eyed at the spot in front of him. A powerful energy appeared out of nowhere right behind. Memories returned to Trunks of the day when he was just a child and his father fought Buu and lost. Now this energy was a thousand times more powerful, and it was right behind him. And he was open for an attack.

A second later, he found himself shoved to the side by Goten as a car roared over the spot where he had been standing and the energy vanished.

"I told you!" Goten said as he helped his friend up. "I told you, you'd get hit by a car if you didn't look both ways. Why the heck did you stop?"

Trunks shook his head, ignoring the snow now stuck in his hair, as he looked back the way they had come, searching for any enemies. "Didn't you sense that?"

Goten frowned. "What?"

"A huge energy. It was right behind me."

His friend forced him to start walking again so that they were back on the sidewalk and out of harm's way. "Trunks, I didn't sense anything." He frowned. "Maybe you should call and cancel that meeting."

"I'm not going crazy!"

Goten nodded but his eyes were serious. "I'm not saying you are, but, Trunks, if the energy was as strong as you make it seem, I should have sensed it."

Trunks shook his head as he sat down on one of the many snow-covered bus benches that lined the streets. "I'm not crazy," he repeated. "There was something there. Strong and deadly."

"Evil?"

He started to agree but then paused. "I don't know," Trunks finally said. "I just know it wasn't good news."

Goten looked at his best friend for a long minute before saying, "Well at least I'll get to my date on time today."

Knowing that Goten was worried about him, Trunks forced himself to laugh but as they stood and continued their walk, he took a short glance over his shoulder. This time he wasn't going to fall for any tricks.

**Part 2: Meeting with an Ally**

"**Y**esterday you said that you would work until four and now you want to leave at two?"

His secretary nodded. "I realize I should have given you more notice but I forgot about the time change for his flight and just realized it last night at 11."

Kaiba found himself frowning as he punched in the code to deactivate the alarms in the building. "And what makes you think I'm going to agree to let you go early? Today is the meeting with Capsule Corps, if you bothered to remember."

She nodded as she followed him to the elevator that led to his office. "Yes, I remembered but Togashi cancelled so that means we can move that appointment up an hour and you don't really need me for that. Besides, I recall working overtime on October 31st trying to find you when I could have been doing something else."

'Like handing candy out to kids who were going to have enormous dental bills,' Kaiba thought before saying, "Takahashi, I don't have time to worry about what plans you wanted to have. I pay you to be here and expect you to work for the amount of time you signed for or more. Not less."

She didn't look at him as she slipped off her coat and placed it in the closet at the far side of the office. "I recall reading in my contract that if I had an emergency that my time could be negotiated."

He glared at her out of the corner of his eyes as he started up her computer. "Your brother coming in for the weekend does not qualify as an emergency."

"Kenta isn't my brother! He's my boyfriend!"

Kaiba was able to hide the shiver of shock by brushing pass her to hang up his coat. Somehow, he always forgot that Takahashi had a life outside work. "That's even less an emergency," he growled.

Takahashi shook her head so hard that some of her black hair slipped from her ponytail. "I don't know how you missed it but today is Valentines so if you don't mind, I would actually like to send one holiday with someone close to me because I spent the last three here in the office."

Kaiba shook his head as he entered his office and knelt down to turn on his computer. "We were closed on Christmas and New Year's and White Day is only a month away."

She had followed him into the room with an armful of papers and had started to lay them out on his desk. Although, Kaiba had to admit she seemed to be slamming them down more than anything.

"Yes we were closed but if I recall, you called me in to help with your latest project."

"And you could have refused and spent more time with your boyfriend."

"Kenta doesn't live here, Mister Kaiba, so when I get to see him it's special, and I would like to leave at two so that I can meet him at the airport."

"He has two legs and a heartbeat, what's stopping him from walking?"

She had finished laying out the papers and seemed to be resisting the urge to slap him. He watched as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and reopened them so that green was looking at blue. "So I take it that's a no."

He nodded and sat down at his desk. "Tell me when the man from Capsule Corps arrives."

Takahashi nodded and turned to leave. "As you wish, your highness. By the way, you have something in your hair."

He resisted the urge to pat his head to figure out what was in his brown hair until she had left the room and the door was shut. When he investigated, he realized that he had snow on his head from his walk into the building. For the first time that day, he glanced over his shoulder and out the window at the falling snow.

She should have known better than to speak like that to him since he could easily fire her. However, as he flipped through the papers she had left for him, he knew he wouldn't. She was too valuable and normally, he would have let her leave early. But for some reason, he wanted to keep an eye on her today. If he was able to admit it to himself, he had a feeling that something was going to happen to her. Something similar to what had happened to him on Halloween. But he refused to admit that to himself and instead started to read over the reference material that Takahashi had found on Capsule Corps in preparation for his meeting later that day.

**Part 2: Meeting with a Puppy**

**S**unlight creeped through the window, crawling up the light blue walls of her room as it slowly made its way over to her bed in the corner. Eventually it came to rest on top of her mop of brown hair and sat, waiting for her to wake. If Keiko had been awake, maybe she would have felt better that someone was watching her twist and turn as her nightmare neared the end. At 7:00 Keiko awoke, panting for breath. As she raised herself out of her covers with practiced ease, she glanced around her room. Stuff animals lined the shelves along with many pictures of family, friends, and good times. More than once in the past, she had lay in her room and looked at those objects for comfort. Now, not even the goofy grin of her boyfriend when he was six could make her smile.

Last night she had the dream again, and she was sure that she had looked right at the person's face as he ran by while the cupids shot at him. For at least five minutes she sat in her bed with her eyes closed, trying to remember the face. Trying to bring it all into sense. Nothing. All she knew was that the cupids were attacking a boy and part of her wondered if she should tell Yusuke.

She pondered her question as she started her day. While she dressed she went over the pros and cons. Yusuke knew she was having the dreams. He knew what the dreams were about. However, he also knew she wasn't psychic. A fact that had been proven multiple times over the past four years. Unfortunately, he did know that enemy psychics could spend horrible visions through dreams and he knew that she had a reputation for getting caught in the middle of him and his enemies. But if she told him that the dreams had stopped, he could either think that the threat had passed or, knowing Yusuke, think that the bad guy was about to make his move.

'He probably would ignore the fact that I wasn't the one being shot at,' Keiko decided as she slipped on a blue shirt that matched her blue eyes.

As she ate her breakfast she decided not to tell him because that would only make him worry more. Something about how the more she remembers, the more powerful the vision was. While she was putting her dishes away, her boyfriend stepped into the house. His gelled black hair was slowly loosing its form and was starting to fall towards his brown eyes because of the melting snow on his head. Instead of a nice 'Hello,' or 'Did you miss me?' the first thing he said was, "Any dreams?"

She shook her head and barely noticed that his worried frown didn't disappear as he looked around. "Where's your parents?"

"Probably sleeping in. The restaurant's close today, but," she removed a piece of paper from the fridge, "I have some things I need to pick up."

Yusuke nodded and turned to walk out of the room. "Let's make this quick. I told the gang we'd meet them at Kuwabara's for chocolate switching."

As Keiko grabbed her backpack filled with the chocolate she couldn't help but sigh. It looked like he still worried that an enemy was waiting in the shadows. However, today he did offer to carry her backpack. A first in their relationship. Usually he watched her carry her books or (rarely) he took them from her without asking. Wondering what was up, she handed it over to him. She hadn't realized she was staring until Yusuke asked what she was looking at and she replied, "Nothing." They walked down the street towards the market, and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe one of the other boys had told him to act nicer towards her today. Or maybe he knew if he didn't behave, he wouldn't get his chocolate.

She sighed as they walked out onto the street. It probably was the chocolate.

**Part 3: Vanishing Support**

**T**runks and Goten reached the headquarters just half an hour before Trunks' appointment and decided to just sit and wait in the waiting area, rather than go to a nearby coffee shop. As they sat and waited, Trunks tried to resist the urge to look over his shoulder or let his chi lash out. The last thing he wanted was for Goten to think that he really was losing it and tell his mother or father. He would never hear the end of it and it would be even worse if his younger sister, Bra, found out. Unfortunately, Trunks was so focused on not appearing crazy that he failed to notice his tapping foot.

"You sure you're okay?" Goten asked after five minutes of Trunk's foot tapping.

Trunks nodded as he uncrossed his legs. "Yeah. I'm probably just tired. I kept dreaming about the dragon balls spinning around my head except they were pink with red hearts instead of yellow with orange stars." He leaned back in the chair and started pulling papers from his briefcase. "Must be the stress."

Goten nodded and grinned as he watched his friend flip through his reference material. "Cheer up. Remember, v for victory."

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have to give a presentation to a board of directors and another CEO in an attempt to branch out your company because sales aren't as high as they could be and your mom found out."

Goten put his arms behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. "I guess but I still don't get why you picked this company. Kaiba Corps is all about gaming."

Trunks nodded as he put his papers back in his case. "But it also has around the world contacts and since they only do gaming they'll probably want to branch out now that people have less time and money for gaming."

His friend frowned. "I guess but isn't the CEO supposed to be cold as ice and a perfectionist? How are you going to survive working with him?"

"Actually he's only a pain if you get on his bad side," a female voice said.

Both men looked up to see a young woman standing in front of them. She smiled and turned to Trunks. "You have the 3:00 appointment right?"

He nodded as he stood up and shook her hand. "Yeah. My name is Trunks."

"And I'm Goten."

The woman smiled again. "We had a cancelation so if you're ready, Mister Kaiba could see you now."

Trunks nodded. "That'd be awesome."

"Great." She grinned and leaned in while putting her hand to the side of her mouth. "But my advice is to ditch the presentation and just say what you want and foresee," she whispered. "His prototype exploded earlier and he's a bit edgy."

Trunks nodded and turned to Goten. "This shouldn't take too long."

The long haired man nodded with another grin. "I'll wait around and see how things turn out but I have a date at five and today I **will** get there on time."

Trunks grinned as he started to follow the secretary. "Duly noted."

Within seconds he found himself in a large office. The view from the window was amazing, and with a sigh of relief, Trunks noticed that there was only one other person in the room. As fate would have it, the man standing behind the desk wasn't much older than Trunks but he was also familiar.

As they shook hands, Trunks noticed the barely visible fatigue in the blue eyes and the faint twitch of the man's shoulders as if he was tempted to look behind him. However, Trunks also noticed the almost freakishly neat desk and the way the man didn't even have to look as he reached into his desk to remove a piece of paper and a pen. Finally, when the man introduced himself as Kaiba, Seto, Trunks remembered that he had been locked in a tree house with this man. Sensing that blurting something along those lines would probably get him kicked out of the office and another lecture from his mom, Trunks wisely kept his mouth shut and sat down. Although the idea of having the deal not go through seemed more and more attractive as the man glared at him like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Right off the bat, Kaiba said that he wasn't convinced that capsule technology wasn't as usable as Trunks had claimed. Prepared, Trunks pulled out three capsules and opened them with a simple push of a button. In three small clouds, a cooler, TV, the dragon ball radar, and car appeared in the office. After Kaiba inspected each one, Trunks returned them to capsules just as easily. Convinced, Kaiba then asked why he, a gaming company, would be interested in such a device. When Trunks replied that making gaming more portable would increase sales, Kaiba replied that it would also make the objects easier to lose.

"And then they'll have to buy new ones."

Kaiba nodded but said, "If that's true, then why are the Capsule Corps' sales so low?"

Not wanting to weakened his argument, Trunks moved in his seat to become more comfortable before saying, "If you lose your car, would you really go buy a new one? Plus all capsules come with a case that has a small tracker in it."

Kaiba frowned. "That was not listed in the information you gave me."

"If we are only making one set of capsules for you, then why would we need to make a case for it?"

"And supposing that I decide not to take this deal?"

"If you come out with anything close to a capsule, we will not hesitate to sue you." Trunks leaned back in his chair. "Of course that's assuming you'll waste 10 to 20 years developing it."

Kaiba nodded and Trunks sighed. Now came the part he really hated. Negotiating the price and cut of sales. As Kaiba named his first offer, Trunks stiffened. For a second, he could have sworn that he felt that insanely strong power from on the walk over again. When it vanished, Trunks allowed himself to relax and reply to Kaiba. However, when Kaiba made his next offer, Trunks was once again distracted. Goten's energy, which he was sure had been in the office up to when he felt that power, had vanished. While half of him concentrated on coming to a reasonable deal with Kaiba, the rest focused on trying to find Goten. Figuring that he couldn't have gone far since it was only 2:47, Trunks 'checked' the surrounding blocked but felt nothing.

After a good five minutes, they finally reached a half-way point, and Kaiba pushed the button on the intercom so that his secretary could come in with the proper papers. A couple of seconds passed but the door to the office didn't open. Frowning, Kaiba got up and left the office. Still worried about Goten, Trunks followed, hoping to see where his friend had gone or if he had left a note. Goten and the secretary were nowhere to be seen.

For a few seconds, Kaiba flipped through the papers on the desk before turning to Trunks and saying that he'd send him the necessary paper work when he had it.

Trunks nodded. He had to find Goten, and he had a very strong feeling that he wouldn't find his friend by waiting around Kaiba Corps. However, as he passed where Goten had been sitting, he found a small, heart shaped pendant with a ruby heart in the center on a golden chain. Without really thinking about it, Trunks picked it up, put it in his pocket, and went to find his friend.

**Part 3: Vanishing Help**

**V**arious situations crossed Kaiba's mind when he buzzed for Takahashi and she didn't appear. The first was that the intercom was not working. (Takahashi had been complaining yesterday that she heard more static than what he said.) The second was that Takahashi was ignoring him. The third was that she was talking with the man who had came with Trunks and didn't notice the buzz. However, the fourth one seemed more likely. That she had left without telling him and ignoring him when he told her she couldn't leave early.

As he pushed open the door and saw that she was nowhere in sight, he felt his stomach turn over. It looked like she wasn't quite as valuable as he had thought. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to find the paper he wanted, he still tried to locate it in the mess on her desk. When he was proven correct, he turned to Trunks and promised to fax him the information. He barely noticed when the other man agreed and left. Kaiba was too focused on the fact that Takahashi had actually done something so stupid. If she had interrupted the meeting to say that she was leaving, then he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She could have gotten off scotch-free. Instead she left without telling him and, mostly likely, was going to be looking for another job tomorrow.

He rubbed at his eyes with one hand as he tried to figure out what she had been thinking. When he removed his hand, he noticed a small necklace sitting on the edge of her desk. It was a small locket on a silver chain with an amethyst heart on it.

Probably some gift from her boyfriend, Kaiba figured. He thought he had told her to keep personal items out of sight so that they wouldn't get taken but Takahashi rarely listened to him, so he wasn't surprised. However, as he walked towards his office a ringing distracted him. Turning back to her desk, he noticed her black cell phone sitting on the desk, the screen glowing. Knowing that he was going to regret it, he answered the call.

"Hello?" he said.

The voice on the other end was male and annoyed. "Who are you? Where's Naomi?"

"She isn't here and I'm her boss." He paused before asking, "Can I take a message?"

"For a second there I thought I wasn't the only one cheating. Of course Naomi wouldn't do that. Yes. I was hoping to tell her in person but I guess you'll do. This is Kenta, her boyfriend." The man paused and Kaiba nodded although he was aware the man couldn't see him. "Tell her not to bother coming to airport. I'm going to my girlfriend's."

Kaiba's frown grew. "Pardon?" he said, attempting politeness.

"Just tell her, I'm tried of chasing two girls and I've decided who I'm staying with and it isn't her. Okay?"

"You mean that she isn't with you."

"Why would I be calling her cell if she was with me? I've been waiting for her at the airport with my gal for an hour. Just give her the message, okay?"

Without answering, Kaiba hit the call end button and closed the phone. If she wasn't with her boyfriend (who now was her ex-boyfriend), then where was she and why did she leave her cell behind?

**Part 3: Vanishing Shield**

**A **while ago, spending time alone with Yusuke was a treat. He used to spend hours with his friends, training or just teasing them. Within a normal two weeks, she would probably only be alone with him for an hour total spread out over the period. In an abnormal week, she wouldn't see him at all because he'd be off fighting or solving problems between demons and humans. It wasn't all his fault though. Since going to Dai-ichi School for Girls, her workload had increased greatly. However, as she and he walked side by side down a crowded street, Keiko could see how too much of a good thing was a bad thing.

Yes, Yusuke was trying very hard to be on his best behaviour. He hadn't really caused any trouble or complained while she shopped for groceries and then paused in a jewellery store because she saw some things she thought the other girls would like. He hadn't really started a fight with anyone, and he was walking beside her like a good boyfriend would.

However, either he didn't believe her lie about her dreams or he felt danger coming because every time someone Yusuke didn't know walked by, he would glare at them as if daring the person to make a move. Already he had reduced two middle-school girls to tears, nearly got into a fight with a kid at Kasanegafuchi Junior High, and caused a store owner to kick him out when he started asking another customer odd questions.

Although to be fair, the last person he was glaring at **was** rather weird. As Yusuke asked him questions about where he was from and what he was doing, the man just kept grinning and looking back and forth between her and Yusuke. Keiko was almost glad when the store owner asked her and Yusuke to leave since Yusuke didn't seem to have any intention to do so. Not that she would ever let him know.

"Yusuke, you can't pick fights with people like that."

He had his arms behind his head and looked across the street as they started to walk back to the Yukimura's restaurant. "Give me a break Keiko. That guy was obviously up to something."

She shook her head. "You aren't a spirit detective anymore. You should just let it go. If that person was a demon, he has a right to be here."

Yusuke glared at her and shook his head. "He wasn't a demon."

"Humans have a right to live too."

He shook his head. "Damn it, Keiko. That guy wasn't normal!"

She glared back at him. "And you are?"

"Hey! We are talking about that weirdo in the store not me!"

Keiko paused to put her key into the lock of her front door. "Sure Yusuke."

Behind her Yusuke let out a growl. "I'm going for a walk!"

Before she could even turn, Yusuke had started walking down the street. Sighing, she walked into her house. It had occurred to her that Yusuke was feeling stressed from being on guard all the time, but she didn't really think that it would affect him so much. Normally, he would just growl and then be quiet for a little while. Of course, maybe he just needed some alone time and some person to fight. Since he had started guarding her three months ago, he hadn't gotten into one fight except for a few training battles.

'He's probably missing it,' she decided as she started to put her groceries away.

Once she had finished, Yusuke hadn't appeared so she decided to wrap the gifts she had gotten for the other girls for White Day. She finished the task quickly and put the gifts into her desk drawer so that she would remember where she had put them.

By then Yusuke still hadn't returned to the house. Starting to get worried, Keiko looked out the window, expecting to see him coming around the corner. Nothing. Rather than wait for him to show up, Keiko slipped back into her shoes, and walked down the way she saw Yusuke go. She half-expected to round the corner and see a trail of unconscious bodies showing where Yusuke had went. Nothing. When she asked one of the storeowners if they had seen him, she said that he had been approached by a young man in black leather with blonde hair.

"They probably went over to the empty lot to fight or something," the woman had said.

Keiko thanked her and quickly went to the lot. The description sounded a little too much like the stranger in the store for her taste. When she arrived at the lot, signs of Yusuke were all over the place. Craters littered the area, showing that Yusuke had been right when he said that the stranger was not normal. But Yusuke was nowhere in sight. Neither was the unconscious body of the man he had been fighting. However, Keiko did find a small pendant with a silver chain with an emerald carved into the shape of a heart on it. Thinking that the other man had dropped it, she picked it up. After all, maybe he would be willing to tell her where Yusuke was if she returned it. However, before she started talking to strangers who were able to beat up Yusuke, who was a level S Demon, she wanted to look for him herself.

**Part 4: Trapped in Hell**

**L**ava was the last thing Goten expected to see when he first opened his eyes. As he raised himself to his feet, he took a long look at the scenery around him. The sun was shining down on him from a pink sky, and it appeared as if he was standing in a courtyard of some sort. The stones under his feet were white marble and made a huge half circle. It had to have at least a mile for a radius and pillars lined the outer rim of circle. Before him was a volcano from which the lava was flowing. However, the lava seemed to be avoiding making contact with the marble of the half circle. Behind him was a Greek building with a series of white pillars holding up the triangle roof.

While Goten studied the scenery, he became aware of a constantly morphing man poking him in the side. One second, the man was black haired and covered in paint splatters. Then he had brown hair, was buff, and dressed in a soccer uniform. Next he was blonde and seemed to have a charming aura that most guys would kill to have. The one thing that didn't change was the man's dark pink eyes that seem to stare right through Goten.

Suddenly the man took a step back and grinned showing off straight teeth that were so white that Goten narrowed his eyes for fear of going blind.

"Glad to see you survived the trip," the man said as he changed into a skinny man with books under arm and glasses. "The last alien I brought here died on the way. Although you are half human so that probably helps."

Goten could only nod as the energy of the man started to flood his senses. If that man was what Trunks had sensed, it was no surprised that he had frozen on the street. As it was, Goten found himself barely breathing from the unease that filled his body. One flick to the forehead and he would have his brains coming out his ears. Or would his head just explode into tiny little pieces? The thought made even his saiyan stomach not want to eat.

When Goten didn't say anything, the man stuck out his hand and said, "I'm Eros by the way, but the Romans called me Cupid."

For a second, Goten struggled to remember what his history books had said about a man named Eros. By the time he was born, Chi Chi had relaxed when it came to forcing her sons to be scholars but he was sure that he had heard that name before. Cupid was related to Valentine's Day and the man said that he was called Cupid by the Romans so what was he? A hero? A god? A monster?

Eros still had his hand outstretched and was waiting. Unsure of what else to do, Goten shook his hand and said, "I'm Goten."

Eros' smiling face became a frown as he morphed into a strong red haired man in a pink plaid shirt. "You're male." Suddenly he became blonde once again in a blue school uniform and turned his back to Goten as he said, "I was really hoping for platonic sister-brother love for my collection. I already have platonic brother love. Hm." He suddenly turned back to Goten as he changed into a brown haired biker. "You aren't straight, are you?"

"And if I am?"

Eros took a step back and turned into a white haired man in a pink suit. A closet appeared out of nowhere behind him and he opened the doors with more flourish than was really needed. From it, he removed a white bow and a hot pink arrow, and Goten felt his heart jump into his throat. Something really bad, awkward, or embarrassing was about to happen. He just knew it.

"I suppose I can always fix that but this sort of love just doesn't look as nice in my collection," Eros muttered to himself as he strung the arrow on the bow before closing the closet. Slowly, he turned to Goten. "Now just hold still."

He couldn't help but take a step back. "Hey! What are you going to do with that?"

Eros smiled. "I'm just going to teak your preferences. That's all."

Sweat rolled down Goten's face. If Eros was going to do what he thought he was going to do, not only would he be humiliated for life, but his mom was going to kill him!

Eros pulled the string back and Goten gulped as he struggled to say, "Now just wait a second…"

"Oh crap!"

Eros' arrow went wild, missing Goten by a mile but the cupid didn't seem to care. Instead he grinned as his bow vanished and he looked in the direction where the shout had come from.

"The part demon survived as well. Today really is my lucky day!"

Struggling to get his heart rate under control, Goten cautiously glanced towards the direction of the shout. About a few feet away was a man dressed in green who was clutching his head.

"Damn it that hurt," the man said as he stood up. "Must be losing my touch." With a glare from life-hardened eyes, the man faced Goten and Eros. "Alright. I don't have a clue what is going on, but I didn't sign up to be kidnapped when I entered that fight! Now get Eros out here so we can finish our fight and I can bury him six feet under."

Eros laughed and Goten subtly took a few steps away from him. He wasn't sure if the other man was stupid or insanely brave because Eros could obviously kill the guy without lifting a finger. Of course, Eros did say he was part demon and he knew Goten was part alien so did that mean that the other man was immortal like a demon? Wait a second, demons existed? As Goten tried to figure out how demons could possibly exist and his family not know about them, Eros kept laughing.

When Goten had moved away from Eros, the other man had glanced at him but quickly turned his attention back to Eros. Now as the powerhouse continued laughing, he said, "What's so funny?"

Eros slowly stopped laughing and morphed into a man with blonde hair and a leather jacket. "I'm Eros."

The other man grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "Good. Then we can make this quick."

If Goten had blinked, he almost would have missed the man's first ten blows. Thankfully, after fighting for years at speeds normal humans couldn't see, he was able to follow the action without a problem. That useful skill also made it easier to stay out of the line of fire when the man's finger started to glow and something like a chi blast shot from it. However, Eros did nothing but kicks and punches. Almost as if he was just playing with the man. Maybe he didn't want to kill him yet, Goten thought as he tried to figure out what was going on. As the fight dragged on, Goten only became more confused as to what Eros wanted but he did realized one important thing. He was going to be late for his date again.

**Part 4: Trapped in Chains **

**E**ros wasn't just fast, Yusuke soon learned. He also packed a punch. As Yusuke crashed into a pillar for the third time, he knew that he had at least one broken rib. However, it wasn't poking anything vital so he quickly charged into another attack only to have the son of a bitch jump into the air above the courtyard and stay there. He would have used his spirit gun except he only had three bullets left and he would probably need at least two against that other guy who was just standing there watching the battle with a focused frown on his face.

'Just what I needed,' Yusuke thought as he tried to think of something he could do. 'My girlfriend's mad at me for being a good boyfriend, and now I'm getting my ass handed to me by some freak who goes through personalities as fast as Kurama finishes homework.'

Eros mockingly landed just two feet away from Yusuke and smiled, causing Yusuke to have to shield his eyes. "Tired already, Mazoku?"

Yusuke couldn't help but grin. "Who me? I'm just getting started. Although if you really wanted to see something interesting you should get your goon over there," he pointed towards the other man, "to join in."

Eros' eyes widened while the other man started waving his arms. "I'm not with him!" the shaggy haired man shouted.

Meanwhile, Eros nodded as he changed into a tall man with orange cat ears. "He's in the same situation as yourself. Although I'm surprised you haven't joined in, Saiyan. I thought you would like a good fight."

Yusuke frowned. "I don't care what he is. If he isn't on your side, then he'd better keep out of this." Before a human could even blink, the other man suddenly was standing beside him. "I thought I said to keep out of this."

The man nodded. "Yeah but he's right. You don't stand a chance on your own."

Yusuke frowned. "And I suppose you will make all the difference, Saiyan? What is that anyways?"

The man shook his head. "No. But I'm getting tired of trying to figure out what's going on and I might be able to stop him from accidently killing you. I'm Goten by the way."

A small part of Yusuke realized this and forced him to accept the man's help. "Well hell. Not like I can really hog all the fun. Just try to keep up."

Goten nodded and followed Yusuke into a charge but when Eros flew upwards to avoid them, the other man quickly took flight as well. 'Can everyone but me fly here?' Yusuke wondered as he walked the two trade punches before Goten was swatted into the ground. Now that he was watching the fight, Yusuke could truly see just how hopeless it was. However, that didn't stop him from readying his shotgun. He moved into a crouch and pulled his right arm to his side so that his other hand was clutched around his elbow. When his right fist was glowing, he focused on the son of a bitch. The whole area lit up with bright blue light as hundred of mini-spirit gun blasts fired off into random directions, most of them heading for the floating Eros. Meanwhile, the rest of the bullets smashed into the volcano behind him causing a cloud of dust and small stones to shoot towards the courtyard.

Yusuke ignored the small distractions as he scanned the area for signs of the fallen enemy. As the dust cleared he thought he saw a broken body but it was just a rock.

"That wasn't very nice."

His whole body froze as he heard the enemy speak right behind him. Yusuke quickly jumped forward and turned, ready to take whatever attack the jerk could dish out. Eros stood grinning as his outstretched hands started to glow hot pink. As Yusuke readied to blast the attack with his spirit gun, he knew he was finished. It would take a spirit tank to beat that guy. Not a gun.

"Neither is kidnapping innocent people!" Goten came out of nowhere and kicked Eros right in the face, causing the creep to go flying into a stone pillar that lined the half circle. Hopping back, Goten came to stop right beside Yusuke. "We have to finish him now!"

Yusuke nodded and watched for a few seconds as the other man leaned into a position he had never seen before. Goten was crouched so that his hands were curved around an invisible ball floating a few inches to the right of the man's waist. Yusuke was well aware of the amount of energy the man was pouring in the space between his hands. However, he had to concentrate on his own attack. While the space between Goten's hands started to glow a blinding blue, Yusuke stood, feet apart with his right hand pointed in the shape of a gun while his left clutched his right wrist. Keiko was probably worried sick by now, and he had wasted enough time on that jerk. His pointed finger started to glow. This time he was going to end it!

"Spirit Gun Rapid Fire!"

"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!"

Yusuke's two spirit gun blasts joined with Goten's attack and became a blinding spirit ball of energy. The attack smashed into the spot where Eros had landed and reduced the pillar to ashes. As the light died down, lava started to pour from the hole in the side of the volcano where the blast had pushed Eros into it. He was done.

With a grin, Yusuke turned to his new ally and gave his a thumbs up. "Nice attack."

Goten grinned back as he blew some stray hairs from his face. "You too. Where did you learn to use chi like that?"

Yusuke blinked. "Is that some sort of fancy spirit energy Koenma didn't tell me about?"

The other man blinked in confusion before opening his mouth to explain. Before he could, chains shot up from the ground, glowing red with the heat of the lava they had come from. While Yusuke tried to punch them away, Goten flew to avoid them. However, the chains kept growing from the ground. Finally, a loop managed to get a grip on Yusuke's left arm. He tried to pull away but the chain tightened its grip and pulled him over to the building where it tied in between two pillars so that he was in the shape of an X. Within seconds, Goten joined him and Eros stood before the two as a short man with big blue eyes. Most girls would probably find him cute but it only made Yusuke more angered that he had been beaten by the freak.

"Okay so you can change and become more powerful. Whoop-dee-do. Now let us go!" Yusuke shouted as he strained against the chains.

Eros shook his head as he changed back into the biker. "Now I remember what happened to those other demons and aliens. They **did** make it here alive but they didn't know when to quit."

"Is that some sort of threat?" Goten asked, although Yusuke noticed he didn't seem to be struggling. Instead he seemed to be raising his energy.

Eros shook his head again and started to walk away. "No. Just some information. It was such a shame. Their mates worked so hard to get here only to find a dead body as their reward. Hopefully your friends don't see the same thing."

"What?"

Yusuke pulled at his chains again. "Listen nutcase! Leave Keiko out of this! If you want a fight, then let me go and I'll slaughter you!" He kept shouting even though Eros had disappeared from view, but slowly his energy drained. Goten was silent as he watched but he made no moves to try to calm Yusuke.

Minutes passed and as sounds of movement came from behind him, Yusuke suddenly had the feeling they weren't alone. His back stiffened as he waited for the attack that would surely cut into the flesh on his back. Instead a simple word was spoken.

"Yusuke?"

**Part 3: Trapped in Fate**

**N**ever in a thousand years did Takahashi think that she would ever be kidnapped. Sure after her boss had been kidnapped by the people from Halloween Town, she did wonder if a repeat would ever happen. Although every time she pictured it, **he** was the one being kidnapped. Not her! And yet, Eros, or Cupid as he had introduced himself when he randomly left her alone in the weird temple like building, had chosen to kidnap her. Not Kaiba. Her! To honest, she still hadn't gotten over it. She was probably going to die wherever the heck she was and if she ever made it home, her job was probably going to be long gone. There was no way that Kaiba would believe that she had not left of her own free will. As it was, he probably was already looking for another secretary. She let out a sigh as she sat down and looked at the floor. Another job down the drain with nothing to show for it. Why did fate hate her?

"Damn it."

Her head suddenly shot up as she stood to look around the surrounding area. From her place at the back of the building with many pillars blocking her view, she could make out two figures tied between the pillars at the front of the building. The voice sounded so familiar that the name popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Yusuke?"

The figure off to the front of her stiffened before he said, "Oh crap."

The other figure seemed to be trying to look back to see what was making Yusuke worry but he didn't seem to be having much luck because he asked Yusuke, "What's wrong?"

Takahashi quickly got to her feet and walked out in front of the two so that she could see both of their faces. As she had suspected, one of them was the man she had met while she had been looking for her boss on Halloween night. The other one had introduced himself as Goten when he had arrived with the representative of Capsule Corps. "I believe I'm the problem. My name is Takahashi, Naomi."

Goten frowned for a few seconds before he said, "Wait a second, you're that secretary!"

Yusuke meanwhile was shaking his head. "Hang on. You know each other?"

Takahashi nodded. "He and his friend, Mister Briefs, came to my workplace for a meeting with my boss."

Yusuke frowned. "Right. Mr. Stick-up his ass…Hang on. Wasn't Briefs the name of the guy that little girl was looking for on Halloween?"

Goten turned his head to look at Yusuke. "Was her name Pan?"

Takahashi and Yusuke nodded. "Why you know her too?" Takahashi asked.

Goten nodded. "She's my niece."

Yusuke frowned. "Well this is some party. Looks like everyone who wasn't kidnapped last time is now except for Goten who apparently was mistaken for Pan." He paused to look at Goten's face. "Although I guess you could look like a girl from the back. Must be the long hair."

While the look on Goten's face was priceless, Takahashi couldn't help but wonder one thing. "Why are you guys in chains and covered in bruises?"

Yusuke rolled his eyes as he pulled at the chains. "Why do you think? We got into a fight and lost."

Goten nodded. "Eros was a lot stronger than we had thought."

Takahashi nodded as she inspected the chains. "What did you expect? In Greek and Roman mythology he was a god." She poked at the chains and quickly put her finger into her mouth with a yelp. "How can you guys not be burning to death? Those things are hot."

Yusuke shrugged as best he could. "Hell if I know. Maybe our winter coats keep us cool but…" he paused before focusing on something coming towards them from the volcano. "Takahashi, hide."

If she hadn't already went on an adventure with Yusuke, she would have disobeyed. However, as she saw Eros coming closer she quickly ducked behind the pillars and watched as Eros stood before the two males. He smiled at them and looked at Goten.

"I've decided to let you remain straight, saiyan. My old platonic brother love is wearing out so I might as well take this opportunity to replace it." Eros then turned his attention to something in his coat that he suddenly was wearing and removed a small glass sphere from it. He tossed it to the ground and said, "This will let you see your friends' progress in the trials. The human girl should be around here somewhere so she'll be able to tell you what is going on if you can't see." He turned and started to walk away before he paused.

"And by the way, you two," he said over his shoulder. "I would not recommend going super saiyan or transforming into your demon form. There is liquid lava in every link of the chain that is more than hot enough to melt right through your body. If you find a weak link, you could become free and lose your arm in the process." He smiled over his shoulder as he faded. "So just have fun and wait. Your friends will be here by midnight. Or not." He didn't laugh but somehow that made it even scarier.

Once Eros had vanished one thing was clear in Takahashi's mind, they had to get out of there. Preferably before their friends even figured out there were missing.

**Part 4: Gathering of Forces**

**T**hree hours had passed since Trunks first started looking for Goten and he still hadn't found anything. He had flown up above the city to see if Goten had just managed to leave the building at the same time he had sensed that weird power, but he had a strong feeling that he was wasting his time. He couldn't sense Goten anywhere in the city. Finally, he decided to check a bit of the city out on foot in case that somehow Goten had been hit by a car and knocked out. However, as he walked pass one of the many parks in the city, he noticed a young woman who looked just as worried as he was. When she turned to face him, he realized he knew her.

"Hey Keiko!" he shouted as he walked up to her. He wasn't sure if she remembered him but since he had already ran into Kaiba, he figured he might as well find out how things were going with her.

She blinked at him as he walked towards her. "Uh, do I know you?"

He smiled. "Remember me? Trunks?"

Her mouth opened into an 'oh' as she recognized him. "Sorry. I didn't recognize you. How are you?"

He shrugged as he put his hands into his pockets. "Be better if I could find my friend. You haven't happened to see a guy walk by in serious need of a haircut have you? He looks sorta like me but with long black hair."

Keiko shook her head. "No but Yusuke has gone missing too."

Trunks frowned. "That's the guy who met you at the square, right?"

She nodded. "He said he was going for a walk but then he got into a fight with a biker and I haven't been able to find him."

"Did you try the hospitals?"

She shook her head as she watched a dog waddle by. "Yusuke wouldn't go to a hospital if he was hurt and I can't get in touch with any of our friends."

Trunks nodded. "It's starting to seem like what happened to us except from what Pan told me when she was trying to find me they at least had a clue to go on. Apparently, your friend sensed my energy by the graveyard and they were able to track us that way."

Keiko frowned. "You're a psychic?"

Trunks laughed a little bit. "Well I wouldn't say a psychic but I can sense energy."

"Then you can help me find Yusuke?"

"Maybe." He paused to look around the park. "But I don't have a clue what sort of energy I'm looking for."

"Well he's part demon so he'll have a bit of demon and spirit energy."

His face must have shown his confusion because Keiko frowned. "You don't know about demons?"

"To be honest no. The only things I've ever heard about are aliens."

"What? Aliens?"

Trunks took his hands out of his pockets. "Look, we're getting off track. Spirit energy must be like chi since your friend was able to sense me. So if you can take me back to a spot where your friend used his energy, I might be able to pick up the trail."

Keiko frowned. "Well it's worth a try but I don't think Yusuke has used his spirit gun for a while."

Rather than waste time asking what a spirit gun was, Trunks tried to think of some way that chi and the spirit energy that Keiko was talking about could be the same. "Well he uses it while he fights, doesn't he? Like to fly and such?"

"Fly?"

Trunks laughed nervously. It looked like finding Goten had just become a lot harder than he had thought. Not only did he just find out that demons were apparently real but there were other types of energy than just chi. "Okay. Maybe not fly. But does he use his energy to…" he paused, trying to think of the right words, "well…" Keiko waited patiently. Before Trunks could think of the right words his cell phone went off. "Sorry. Just give me a second." He flipped open the cell and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Briefs, this is Kaiba. You haven't found your friend."

Trunks frowned, well aware of Keiko listening to every word. "That wasn't a question, was it?"

"I have something you might want to see."

"And that is?"

"Security footage."

Trunks nodded. "I'll be right there."

"Front door is locked so come through the back door."

"Alright." He folded his phone shut and put it back in his pocket before turning to Keiko. "Do you remember Kaiba? The other person who was taken to Halloween Town?"

She nodded.

"Well his secretary is missing too and from the sounds of it he found something. I'm going to meet him back at his company. You coming?"

She nodded. "If it will help me find Yusuke, then I'm coming."

Trunks nodded and started walking down the street. "Kaiba Corps is only a block away so we might as well walk."

As Keiko followed him, he wondered what Kaiba had to show them and if it would even be useful.

**Part 4: Gathering of Forces**

**I**nstead of watching the video again for the third time, Kaiba decided to try to figure out what he had seen. It didn't make sense. One second Takahashi was working at her desk while Briefs' friend was staring at the ceiling. The next they had disappeared. He had already gone through all the possible technological problems that could have resulted in the cameras missing some time. However, after running many tests he had found that the cameras had been working just fine. So that meant that one second Takahashi was there and the next she wasn't. It made no sense.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts and he pushed a button on the keyboard that allowed the door to be opened. Two people then stepped in. Briefs and the girl who had also been taken to the nuthouse.

"Hope you didn't mind but I brought a friend," Briefs said as he made his way over to the computer. "So what did you have to show me?"

Kaiba nodded towards the screen. "This." He typed some information into the computer and replayed the video. "This is the area outside my office at 2:46. As you can see both my secretary and your friend are in the office." Briefs nodded and watched the video. When the video changed time to 2:47 both people disappeared from view seamlessly. It was almost as if they had never been there.

"Yusuke went for a walk at about 2:00," Keiko muttered to herself as she stared at the screen as if she was trying to figure out how people could just vanish. Briefs, on the other hand, just narrowed his eyes.

"Can you replay that?"

Kaiba nodded and replayed the video.

"Pause it!"

Kaiba obeyed but glanced at Briefs. What had the man seen that he hadn't? The screen didn't look any different from the first time he had paused it after the disappearance.

Briefs frowned and ignored the looks Keiko and Kaiba were giving him. "You missed it. Can you slow this footage down?"

Kaiba glared at him but did as he said. However, a few seconds into viewing Briefs said, "It needs to be as slow as you can make it or else you won't be able to catch it."

Again, Kaiba glared at him. "If that's true, then how can you see it?"

Briefs glanced away from the screen long enough to say, "I've been training since I was a kid to track movements faster than typical human eyes can see. It can be… useful in our line of work." He suddenly pointed at the screen. "Look."

Kaiba turned his attention back to screen in time to see a man dressed in a pink suit with blonde hair walk into the room and whack Brief's friend in the back of the neck before turning and doing the same to Takahashi. Then the man picked up both of the now unconscious people and walked out the door. All in under half a second. Kaiba's eyes were wide after watching that.

"That's impossible! How can someone move so fast?"

Briefs shook his head. "It's not as uncommon as you think. Almost every one of my family's friends can move that quickly. Heck if I wanted to I could kill both of you right now and be on the other side of the planet before the cameras could even blink."

Kaiba decided to ignore him and kept silent as Keiko asked, "So who was that man?"

"Well since Briefs seems to know all about this, maybe he can tell us who that man was."

Briefs shrugged. "No one I know. But a lot of enemies we meet can move just as fast as us or faster."

Keiko suddenly pointed at the screen. "Hey, what is he putting on the seat and desk?"

The males turned to look back at the screen and watched as the man finished placing something on the desk before leaving. This time, he didn't return. Without being asked, Kaiba zoomed in on the desk.

"It looks like a locket," Briefs said.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. It looked like the locket he had found on Takahashi's desk. He took it out of his pocket and laid it on the keyboard so he could compare to the video. It was the same. "So why would he leave a locket?" he wondered aloud.

"Maybe it's a sign," Keiko said as she took a similar pendant from her pocket so she could look at it. "I found this at the place where Yusuke was fighting a biker."

"It must have been the same guy but in a disguise," Briefs said as he also pulled out his piece of jewellery. "But I'm with Kaiba. Why would he leave these? It doesn't make sense."

Keiko was frowning as she turned her locket over in her hands. "I wonder." She slipped the pendant over her head and suddenly her eyes went glassy. Her voice was low and distant. Almost as if she was a speaker and someone was talking into a microphone from too far away. "The way to the temple is filled with peril. Three tests you must past until at last, your lovers you will soon meet. Retrieve three treasures, one from each god. Your dreams will lead the way to the gift from the mother, the sword of a fighter, and the lance of the one of the sea. Once you have completed these three things, the task shall end, and the taker be pleased."

Keiko's head dropped to her chest but she didn't collapse, much to Kaiba's relief. At the mention of lovers, Briefs looked ready to faint and Kaiba didn't feel like catching any girls. Slowly, Keiko's eyes opened and she raised her head. "What happened?" she asked.

Before Kaiba could say anything, Briefs found his voice. "Lovers? Goten and I aren't lovers! We're straight! We've always been straight! We'll always be straight!" He collapsed into one of the many chairs in the room and somehow, Kaiba couldn't fault him for it. Having your preferences called into question was bound to make any man very confused. "This is so messed up," Briefs said before falling silent.

Keiko glanced at Kaiba and he felt the need to explain since Briefs obviously was in no state to do so. "You went into a trance and said something about how we have to find three gifts so that we can save our 'lovers' and his brain imploded. In other words, at this point, he's useless."

Keiko frowned. "I thought that your secretary went missing."

Kaiba nodded. "You also said that Briefs' friend was his lover. Your point?"

Briefs suddenly stood up. "Alright! I'm going to find those gifts, get my friend back, and kill the guy who dares to question my preferences! Which way?"

Kaiba couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You expect us to know?"

Briefs laughed nervously. "Oh right." He paused to think. "Keiko said that our dreams would lead the way so what dreams have we had?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I've been pulling all-nighters since the beginning of this week and even if I was having dreams, they would not be about some quest."

Briefs glared in his direction before looking at Keiko. "What about you?"

She shook her head. "I just dreamt about cupids attacking a boy. I'm guessing it was Yusuke and that was just a warning."

"I guess my dream is the one that will lead us then."

Kaiba glared back. "Which was?"

"I don't know whether you've heard of them but there's these things called Dragon Balls—"

"That when you get all of them together it will grant you any wish you want. I've heard the legend, so what's your point?"

Again Briefs glared at him. "It's no legend, but that's not the point. In my dream they were almost like a Valentines version. They were pink with red hearts." He paused as he tried to remember more. "And there were three of them."

"One for each of us. Perfect," Kaiba muttered sarcastically.

Trunks ignored him and continued speaking, "Although that doesn't explain what they have to do with gifts from a mother, a sword, and a lance."

Keiko glanced back at the screen where the picture of the locket was still shown. "How will we find them?"

Both males were silent until Kaiba saw that Keiko's necklace was glowing. "Briefs, you said that you had a radar that would light up and show you where a radioactive object is, correct?"

Briefs nodded. "Yeah my mom designed it."

"Did it ever occur to you that the lockets could work in the same way?"

Briefs and Keiko looked down at her locket and noticed the glowing. "It could work similarly," Briefs said. "But we won't know until we're outside and start looking."

Kaiba nodded and grabbed his coat. "Let's go. The sooner we find them, the sooner I can pretend this never happened." He heard the two follow him but he chose to ignore Briefs muttering to himself, "Well there's a cheery attitude."

**Part 5: The First Trial – Gift of the Mother**

**N**either Trunks or Kaiba seemed up to talking as they piled into the car that Trunks had taken out of a capsule, so Keiko focused on her necklace that seemed to be pointing the way to the 'hearts' as she decided to call them. Kaiba had originally wanted to take his car but Trunks convinced him that the capsule car would be better because they could park, walk a ways, and not have to walk back to the car. While Trunks had the most experience with radar technology, he could only see that the necklace was glowing. Kaiba also couldn't tell where the glow was located on the jewel in the center of the pendant so it was up to Keiko to guide them. She couldn't wait until it was the males' turn to try. The glow kept to the far edge of the gem making it hard to tell Trunks where to drive.

Eventually the glow moved so that it was towards the middle of the jewel. When she told Trunks he pulled the car over and they got out. After the car vanished into a puff of smoke Keiko turned her attention towards the building in front of her. The white brick of the building seemed to shine and glow as they walked towards the front door.

"Isn't this the museum? Why would a valentine's dragon ball be here?" Trunks asked as he looked through the windows that framed the doors.

Kaiba ignored the front doors and started to walk along the front of the building. "We'll find out once we're inside."

Keiko frowned. "But how are we going to get in? It's closed."

"Keep up," Kaiba replied as he disappeared around the corner. When Keiko and Trunks followed they found him at a door and typing in a code on the keypad. A small ring went off and Kaiba opened the door. "The guards shouldn't have arrived yet so we'll have a bit of time to look around."

Trunks frowned as he followed Kaiba through the door. "And how would you know that?"

"I've been dragged to this museum after hours more times than I would care to remember. Now hurry up."

Keiko was the last to enter but in the darkness of the museum, the glowing of her necklace became clearer. While the two males branched out to look around for the objects Trunks had dreamt about, Keiko followed the glow. Soon she found herself in the museum's special presentation for Valentine's Day. It went into the history of each of the symbols such as the heart, cupid, and even the history of the saint who the day was named after. At the history of Cupid, Keiko paused and read some of the material.

"The Romans were greatly influenced by the Greeks and even took some of their gods and renamed them. Eros, the Greek god of Desire, was one of these. In Roman mythology he was called Cupid and his mother was Venus (Aphrodite)," she muttered aloud as she glanced up at one of the statues. Its eyes seemed to watch her and she quickly moved on.

Soon another statue caught her eye. It was of a man with wings leaning over a woman who was laying half in his arms and half on the ground. Although she knew they had a time limit, Keiko paused to read the inscription. "One of the most common legends involving Cupid was the story of the Trials of Psyche," she muttered as she strained to read by using the glow of her necklace. "In the story Cupid fell in love with a mortal woman named Psyche and took her as his wife. However she could not look at him and if she did, he would leave her forever. One day her jealous sisters tricked her into looking upon her beloved. Cupid was forced to leave his love but Psyche searched for him and completed tasks created for her by Venus until she finally was reunited with her love."

Keiko frowned when she had finished reading and turned her focus back to her necklace to try to find the heart. She continued walking down the hallway until she came before display and stopped dead. On a stand surrounded by flowers and baring the title of "Aphrodite's Wedding Gift" was the heart. It was just as Trunks had described it. A pink sphere with two red hearts buried in the glass.

Without a second thought, she quickly went and found the boys. For a second they stared then Trunks started to reach for it but Keiko grabbed his arm. "We can't take it! That's illegal," she said.

"The museum won't even know. Besides I've done this tons of times with the Dragon Balls."

Keiko frowned. "But…"

Kaiba glared at her and quickly grabbed the ball before tossing it to Trunks. "We need this and they don't. It's as simple as that and if you can't handle it, you'd better go home to your mother."

Before Keiko could reply the museum started to shake. "What's going on!" Trunks asked as he struggled to keep his footing.

"You're the expert in searching for mythical objects. You tell us!" Kaiba shouted as he held onto a wall for support.

Keiko, who had wisely decided to sit on the floor and wait out the shaking, was silent until the shaking stopped. Then she got to her feet and looked around. Her eyes returned to the display and she couldn't help but scream. The flowers that had been surrounding the stand had turned into snakes and they quickly slithered out of their vases and surrounded the group. Standing back to back, Kaiba glanced at Trunks out of the corner of his eyes. "What now, genius?"

"This." Trunks hands started to glow and he pointed his outstretched palm at the snakes.

However, as Trunks focused on facing the snakes, Keiko paused. The snakes just seemed to be surrounding them. Waiting for them to make a move. And their hissing… it didn't really sound like hissing. Hesitantly, she closed her eyes and focused. Tiny voices muttered a chant over and over again and her eyes popped open. Again, she reached for Trunks' arm but before he or Kaiba could ask what she was doing she said, "Close your eyes and listen!"

She watched as Trunks fought the desire just to blast the snakes but finally he closed his eyes. To her left, Kaiba already had his eyes closed. Trusting that the snakes would not attack, she closed her eyes again and listened.

The tiny voices grew louder now that all three of them were silent, and Keiko could make out the words of their chant.

"If you break me," the snakes said, "I do not stop working. If you touch me, I may be snared. If you lose me, nothing will matter. The Aphrodite and Eros taunt me but I still persevere. Because I am." They repeated themselves three times before they fell silent and the humans opened their eyes again.

"It sounds like a riddle," Keiko muttered.

"In ancient times, they believed in a monster called the sphinx," Trunks muttered to himself. "This must be part of the quest and instead of a sphinx we got snakes." Keiko saw him glance at a snake whose mouth was open showing fangs. "Poisonous ones."

Kaiba growled. "So what's the answer?"

Trunks shrugged. "I haven't heard this one."

Keiko nodded. "I've heard the first part and the answer was the human heart, but…" Her sentence trailed into nothing as the snakes hissed in laughter. She took a step back. "What's going on?"

"I think we just guess wrong."

Kaiba reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hand gun. "You think?"

The snakes started to glow a burning white and the three shielded their eyes despite the danger. When the light had died, the snakes were gone and the alarms were going off. Without speaking, the three quickly raced for the nearest entrance. Once there, Trunks kicked down the door since it had been blocked with metal sheeting to prevent robbers from escaping. He quickly pulled out the car capsule and they piled in. Within seconds, they were driving away from the museum as if nothing had happened.

"Well that was fun," Trunks said as he glanced at his rear-view mirror. "Hopefully the next ball won't be in some high tech weapon vault, because I don't really think we have time to deal with the army on top of some twisted gods. Good thing Keiko had heard the riddle before."

Keiko nodded and slouched into the back seat. "I wonder if all of them will have riddles to solve," she muttered to herself before sitting up straight. "Trunks, can I see the ball?"

He nodded and took one hand from the steering wheel to reach into his pocket. However, after a few seconds, Trunks' back went stiff and Kaiba glance at him.

"You lost it?"

Trunks shook his head and took a second to glare at Kaiba before looking back at the road. "I didn't lose it! It was in my coat pocket when the snakes showed up."

"So you're saying a snake slithered into your pocket and took it?"

Again, Trunks shook his head as he signalled to pull over. "No. It was in my pocket!" Once the car had stopped he took off his coat and turned the pockets inside out. What he found was his heart pendant, which he put around his neck so that he wouldn't lose it, and a necklace made of every form of precious stones strung together with a gold chain.

Kaiba glared at him. "Where did that come from?"

"I didn't steal it if that's what you mean! I'm the owner of one of the richest companies in the world. Why would I steal something from a museum?"

Keiko stood up and leaned between the two front seats so that she could look at the necklace. In the middle of each stone was the shape of a small heart. She frowned before turning to Trunks. "What did I say when I was in the trance?"

He frowned as he tried to remember. "Basically we had to find three gifts from three gods. One was a gift from the mother, the next—"

Keiko cut him off before he could continue. "Wasn't Aphrodite Eros' mother?"

Both males nodded while Kaiba asked, "Your point?"

Keiko took the necklace from Trunks and turned it over in her hands. "Maybe the balls are just a case for the treasures inside."

"You mean that they transform into the gifts from the gods after we complete some sort of challenge?"

She nodded as she sat down with the necklace in hand. "Or the balls are just a clue to help us find the right treasure."

Trunks nodded while Kaiba glanced out the window. "Makes about as much sense anything else today," he muttered, which caused Trunks to turn to grin at him.

"Well at least we know what to do now."

Keiko nodded as she buckled up and pointed at the pendant around Trunks' neck that had started to glow. "And it looks like it's your turn to lead."

Trunks nodded, took a glance at the pendant before turning into traffic. One down, two to go, Keiko thought as she watched the other cars drive by. And soon she'd be with Yusuke again.

**Part 5: The Second Trial – Sword of the Fighter**

**E**ven though he had never been to Mushiyori City, Trunks had no trouble moving through the traffic and being able to follow the glow from his pendant. It was dark when they came to stop on the outskirts of the city in front of a cave though. Instead of turning the car back into a capsule, Trunks left it as a car and just locked it. While he tried to figure out where the pendant wanted him to go, Keiko and Kaiba looked around. Echoes seemed to be coming from the mouth of the cave but Trunks ignored them as he turned in a circle, trying to get his bearings.

"Yusuke told me about this place," Keiko was saying as she looked around.

Kaiba nodded. "Have you ever been inside the cave?"

She shook her head. "No. But if Kurama's plants are still alive we'd be able to find our way without too much trouble."

"That's assuming we're even going into the cave. What's taking so long, Briefs?"

Trunks paused in his circle turning but didn't look up. "The signal seems confused. The pendant seems to think that the ball is right under us." He turned once more before he sighed and looked up. "I guess we'll have to go into the cave and work our way from there."

Kaiba glanced at the cave. "Great. Any idea how we'll avoid getting lost?"

Trunks nodded as he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out some rope. "Way ahead of you."

"But how will we see?" Keiko asked.

Kaiba smirked in her direction. "Afraid of the dark?"

She shook her head. "No but Yusuke said that one of their enemies was left in the cave and I would rather not run into him."

Trunks held up his hand and a small glowing orb hovered a few inches from his palm. "Will this do?"

Keiko nodded and started to follow the men towards the cave when Kaiba put a hand out in front of her and Trunks paused to watch the two battle it out. Seeing the two of them fight brought back memories of being trapped in Halloween Town but at the same time it was comforting. Maybe because it reminded him of his parents?

Kaiba still caught him a bit off guard though when he told Keiko to, "Wait by the car."

Keiko's reply was to become angry and frown. "Why? Is it because I'm a girl?" she asked.

Kaiba shook his head. "No it's because you are weak and would just get in the way."

Casually, Trunks looked on his watch. 8 o'clock and they still had another ball to find after this one. Sighing, he walked back towards the two. "While I agree that it probably will be dangerous inside, Keiko is the only one who knows anything about this place."

"From hearsay," Kaiba countered.

"That's still better than nothing."

Kaiba paused before turning and walking towards the cave. "Fine. But don't complain to me when you wish we left her up here."

Trunks sighed again but walked with Keiko towards the mouth of the cave. Before entering, he tied the rope to a nearby rock, tested it to be sure it would stay. The remains of a plant he had never seen before littered the floor but seemed to be growing in a straight line. However, Trunks couldn't let himself wonder how that happened and instead focused on the pendant's light. The tunnel split off into forks every few feet, but Trunks was sure to follow the path closest to the direction the pendant was glowing. However, with every step they took, the echoes changed and words became clearer. At one point Trunks stopped to try to figure out what was being said but he still couldn't understand so he kept walking and looked at Keiko.

"What's that noise we keep hearing?"

Her face was pale in the light from his ball of chi but her eyes were wide in fear. "I think it's Elder Toguro."

Kaiba, who had been studying the walls they passed, turn to look at Keiko as well. "Who's he?"

"A monster," Keiko replied. "But Yusuke was sure that he wouldn't be able to even move."

Trunk frowned. "If he did get free, what's the worst that can happen?"

Keiko shuttered. "He'll kill everyone, probably starting with Kurama and Kuwabara since they were the ones who beat him."

"Those friends of yours?" Kaiba asked.

She nodded and Trunks glanced around the area that was lit by his chi. "Well what are his weaknesses?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Yusuke said that Kurama had to trap Elder Toguro with some sort of plant because he couldn't kill him."

"Why not?"

"Because he can regenerate from even the smallest cell."

A drop of sweat ran down Trunks' face when he heard that. When he was small, he had heard about how his future self had been killed by an enemy with that same power. Was that going to happen now? He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused on the pendant again. "It can't be much farther."

His companions nodded, and they suddenly found themselves in a huge room with an underground lake. Trunks let his chi ball vanish because the cavern was lit with a single electrical light in the ceiling. The three took a moment to look around, and Trunks noticed an odd plant. Despite the warning bells in his head, Trunks took a few steps closer to investigate. The branches wrapped around a tall body whose top of the head had been chopped off so that only the bottom of the jaw remained. However, growing from that stump was another head of a pale, greasy haired man. 'He must have been the one making the shouts,' Trunks thought as he studied the man. 'Although he seems quiet now.' Aloud he muttered, "How could someone with so little power be so dangerous?"

"Found it!" Kaiba said as he stood from his kneeling position at the lake's shore. "Now let's go."

Trunks nodded but he couldn't help but look around. "Yeah but where's the trial? I mean the last time snakes appeared so where's the Greek-based danger?"

Kaiba shrugged as he started to walk towards the entrance. "Maybe this one's free." He tossed the ball to Keiko. "In any case, let's get going."

Trunks nodded as he started to walk towards the two at the cave's entrance, but the look on Keiko's face caused him to pause. "You okay Keiko?"

She shook her head. "Elder Toguro isn't in the tree anymore."

Kaiba and Trunks quickly turned around and saw that she was right. "But he was there a second ago," Trunks started to say when white hot pain stabbed through his shoulders. A cruel cackle came from behind him and when he turned he saw blood on Elder Toguro's hands. But he was on the other side of the room so how had he managed to stab him in the back? Was he that fast?

Elder Toguro took his time licking Trunks blood off his fingers. "So another group of fighters. The fox must have realized that his precious tree wasn't going to last much longer." The small man started to laugh. "I've give you five minutes to hide in the caves before I find you."

Although both shoulders were killing him, Trunks refused to turn and run. Instead he looked at Keiko out of the corner of his eye. "Think Keiko. Are you sure there isn't a way to beat him?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I only saw him fight once and that was before he became the way he is now."

Elder Toguro laughed again as his fingers grew long and a second head grew from their first. "It's useless to try to plan a counter attack. I'm invincible. Not only can I manipulate my body at will but I can regenerate."

Trunks gritted his teeth. "I've met monsters like you before and I've never died at their hands." Before Toguro could move, Trunks lunged. "And I won't start now!"

He paused just short of punching the freak in the face. Instead he blasted him with all the chi he had, making sure to destroy any and all cells. The ashes floated to the floor as Trunks took many steps back and waited. "That was too easy," he muttered as he looked at the remains. It was then that he noticed the cracks in the rock floor.

A sudden scream caused him to spin around and look to where Kaiba and Keiko had been standing. Now only Keiko was standing and Kaiba was down on one knee clutching at his stomach where blood was flowing over his hand. Sticking up from the ground were a five poles that looked like fingers. However, they quickly disappeared underground. With little choice, Trunks started firing chi blasts at random, trying to force the monster out of hiding.

His plan worked. Too well. Toguro erupted from the ground but not behind Trunks like he had expected. Instead Toguro jumped out in front of him and his fingers became like knives as they cut through the flesh of Trunk's arms that he had thrown in front of himself to protect his front. Before Toguro could even blink, Trunks counterattacked by punching him in the jaw. While Toguro went flying into the walls of the cavern, Trunks jumped back so that he was standing between Toguro and the normal humans. "Try to get back to the car. I'll buy you some time."

Keiko helped Kaiba to his feet. "How long should we wait before we leave?"

Trunks leaned into a defensive position. "Don't wait. I'll catch up. Just get out of here."

"But…"

Toguro was getting up and was laughing harder than ever.

"Just go. I'll be fine." He smiled at them over his shoulder. "I've fought aliens way tougher than him when I was just a baby." Of course it was a future version of him, but they didn't need to know that.

"You should really tell the truth, Trunks."

All of them froze as Toguro spoke. He watched each of their faces as he said, "Tell them that it the worse you've ever faced was a genie and you died. Or what about Cell who killed your future self." Toguro started laughing again. "You're out of your depth, boy. Did I forget to mention that I can read minds?"

Trunks looked over his shoulder and shouted at Keiko to get moving. Once she had disappeared into the tunnel he turned his attention to Toguro. Sweat ran down his face as he told himself that Toguro was just messing with his head. That he couldn't really read minds. But how else could he have known about his death when he was fighting Buu as a child or the facts about Future Trunks? "None… None of that matters!" Trunks shouted as he lunged at Toguro again.

This time Toguro dodged to the side and changed his hand into a hammer that crashed into his side and forced him to the ground. The cracking in his rib cage told him he had at least three broken bones. "Foolish boy," Toguro said with a laugh. "You can't win. I'm immortal!"

Trunk's reply was a chi blast but Toguro dodged and nailed Trunks in the stomach with his fingers. "Yes. Feel the fear. It's delicious isn't it?"

He was worse than anything Trunks had ever seen before. Even Broly couldn't read minds or attack at a distance with such precision. However, he couldn't let it end this way. He started firing chi blasts rapidly at the monster. Even if Toguro could read minds, there was no way he'd be fast enough to dodge all of Trunks' attacks. If he could disable him, they might be able to escape and figure out a plan.

"Tricky boy but not good enough," Toguro said with another laugh as the dust cleared revealing that while he was full of holes, he healed within seconds. Was there no way to beat him?

"Well there's one thing I haven't tried," Trunks muttered. "Hopefully the cave can take it."

Toguro started laughing again. "So you're finally desperate enough to go Super Saiyan. It won't help you but I'll let you try."

As his hair turned blonde and stood up, Trunks couldn't help but smile as the power rushed through his veins. "Thanks. I'll try not to make this too long then." With a shout, Trunks flew into a fury of kicks and punches. If he could disable him enough, a chi blast might be able to finish him off. Toguro must have been reading his mind because he just took punch after punch with a sick grin on his face. However, the uppercut that sent the freak into the air must have caught the man off guard because his eyes were wide. Sensing his chance, Trunks powered up and created the biggest blast he could without risking the whole cave collapsing. While Toguro was still in the air and unable to hide in the floor, Trunks let the blast free. It hit its mark and judging by the sounds of Toguro's scream, the blast did its job. When the light faded, there was no trace of Toguro's energy. Just in case, he scanned the area for any signs of energy as he landed on the ground. The only people he sensed was Keiko and Kaiba who had somehow made it back to the car.

And yet he kept his guard up. Was it over? Or could Toguro hide his energy too?

The sound of something rolling down the tunnels caused him to look behind him as the ball they had been searching for rolled into the area. It bumped into his foot before it glowed and changed shape. It became flatter and lengthened. The colour changed so that it was no longer pink but black. Finally it stopped changing and Trunks picked it up. The ball had turned into a black sword with bat wings as the guard. Inscribed on the blade was the word, "Hades."

It was over.

When he arrived at the car, Keiko had already finished bandaging Kaiba up. They both turned to look at him as he walked out of the cave. With a grin, he held up the sword and said, "Two down. One to go."

**Part 5: The Third Trial – Lance of the One of the Sea**

**S**oon he'd be able to go home and pretend that the whole adventure had never happened. Only one more gift to go before the stupid quest would be finished. However as Trunks drove towards the harbour, Kaiba couldn't help wondering what they would face next. First a sphinx. Then a minotaur. Would a sea monster be next? As they pulled in at the harbour Kaiba look another look at the locket. Thankfully, the ball seemed to be above water. As they started to walk around the warehouses Kaiba kept an eye out for trouble. However, they found the ball without a problem and it transformed into a blue lance. When he picked it up he looked at the other two. "Now what?" he demanded.

Trunks and Keiko looked at each other and then shrugged. "I don't know. I mean we have the gifts so maybe we have to deliver them or something," Trunks said.

Keiko poked at her pendant. "They aren't even lightning up anymore. Maybe we have to…" her voice trailed off as she looked at her hands. "Hey! I'm starting to fade!"

Kaiba frowned as he looked at his own hands, which had started to become see-through. When he looked up, Trunks and Keiko were almost all gone. Then he blinked. When he opened his eyes he no longer saw the harbour but instead a Greek temple on a mountain top. Trunks and Keiko were standing to the right in front of him as they had been at the harbour and seemed to be just as confused as he was. However, Trunks quickly moved into a defensive stance. "He's here," he murmured.

Rather than question how Trunks knew, Kaiba turned to face the same way as Trunks and held the lance at the ready. Within seconds, Kaiba saw the man that Trunks had sensed. He was tall and had pink eyes. However, he seemed to have manners too. When the man was a few feet from them, he stopped and bowed. "I am Eros," he said.

"Where are our friends?" Keiko asked.

The man sighed. "They are safe. At least I think they are. The girl is. But if those two didn't listen to me… well…" He smiled. "I'm sure they're okay. Anyways, I'm proud to congratulate you on being the first people in ten years to actually finish the trials." He held out his hands. "Now if you could just hand over those gifts, I can take you to them."

Kaiba frowned. "And we should trust you why?"

Eros blinked and then smiled. "Because I'm a god."

Trunks glared at him as he reached and pulled out the sword he had gotten. "That's not a good enough reason. How do we know that you won't attack us?"

Eros frowned as he changed into a man with brown hair and paint splatters all over his clothing. "Well that's true. I do have a rep for being rather troublesome."

"Why would you make trials that people cannot survive?"

Eros' eyes widened as he listened to Keiko repeat her question when he didn't reply. After a moment of frowning and looking at the sky, he said, "Well because it's fun and it's the only to get the love for my collection."

"Killing innocent people just to further your collection is wrong."

He nodded. "Yeah but since Psyches left to visit her mother in the afterlife for a year, I've been bored and besides, the best way to have fun is to do something you aren't allowed to do. Right Trunks?"

For a second, Kaiba was amazed that Trunks' aggressive stance slacked. "Well he does have a point," Trunks mumbled. "About having fun that is." He shook his head and quickly tightened his stance. "But this is going too far."

Eros shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, I've changed my mind about taking you to your friends. Let's have a bit of a fight and see if you really deserve to see your friends. Except for the girl. Fighting girls always let a bad taste in my mouth."

Kaiba and Trunks nodded as they readied their weapons. "Keiko, take a few steps back," Trunks said.

While Kaiba waited for Eros' first move, he saw Keiko walk over to the temple to watch. A part of him wanted to do the same. Yes, he was a fighter like Trunks but not on the same level. Trunks vastly outranked him in every way and he knew he was only going to be in the way but he refused to turn down a challenge.

Eros was grinning as he transformed once again into a biker with black hair and a lead pipe in hand. "Let's go."

Trunks and Kaiba nodded but waited for him to make the first move. Eros didn't waste any time. He started to run towards them with a mighty battle cry.

"Eros! Not so fast!"

The god tried to stop but instead tripped over nothing so that he landed flat at the males' feet. Confused, they all looked towards the temple where Keiko had been sitting alone. Only she wasn't alone anymore. Now a beautiful woman stood beside her. Her eyes were narrowed in fury as she pointed at the fallen god. "Eros! I raised you better than this!"

The god stood up and transformed into a white haired man in a pink suit. "But mother…"

Suddenly Kaiba felt the lance in his hands vibrate and he quickly let go. Beside him, Trunks had released his sword. For a moment, the objects lay on the floor. Then they were replaced with two men. One wrapped in a black rode so that he looked like the Grim Reaper. The other looked like a man about to go surfing. The Grim Reaper was the first to speak. "Listen to your mother. I've had at least 100 souls come in too early because of you and I don't want anymore."

Eros frowned. "Hades, they would have died at some point. What does it matter that they came in early?"

Hades started to wave his arms around. "You know how much it matters because I've told you at least twice! It throws the whole schedule out of whack!"

"Well—" Eros found himself cut off when his mother grabbed him by the ear and started yelling into it.

"Eros! You listen to your elders! We know best and we are tired of dealing with you! Do I have to take away Psyche? Do I!"

While Eros shouted and tried to explain, the surfer turned to Trunks, and Kaiba, and Keiko who had now joined them. His smile was sunny and friendly. "Sorry about him. We thought we had him broken out of this the last time it happened. I guess a lecture from Aphrodite and a year of working match-making seniors didn't work." He held out his hand. "I'm Poseidon by the way."

Trunks and Keiko shook his hand while Kaiba silently glared. "Where are the people we're looking for?" he asked.

Poseidon sighed as he looked at Trunks and Keiko. "One track mind, huh?"

Trunks nodded and Poseidon smiled. "Well usually Eros is the only one allowed to enter his realm but I think I'll take you now. Aphrodite will probably keep going for days."

Keiko was smiling. "Really?"

He nodded and a door suddenly appeared. "Now let's go see your friends."

Without another word, they followed the god through the door and into the other realm.

**Part 7: Reunion with a Lover**

"**D**amn it!" Yusuke shouted for the fourth time as he struggled against the chains. "Can't transform or I'll burn to death. Can't rip the chains to pieces because I can't get a grip. This sucks!"

"Well at least we know what's going on with the others right?" Goten asked.

Yusuke frowned. "And we can't help them at all! At least Toguro is gone though. I'll have to remember to thank your friend for making care of him."

"Can you keep it down?" Takahashi asked, causing both the men to look towards the woman as she sat in front of the sphere. "Three other gods just showed up and Eros is getting a lecture. I would like to know if anyone is coming."

Yusuke tilted his head to the side. "More gods? Are they on our side?"

Takahashi frowned. "Well I don't know because they just disappeared and your complaining distracted me." She stood up and stretched. "They probably are on our side since the woman and guy in a dark robe were giving Eros an earful."

Goten frowned. "I thought there were three new gods."

Takahashi nodded. "Yeah. The other one was talking with our friends and they didn't seem too worried about him." She suddenly smiled. "Looks like we're going home."

Yusuke sighed. "Finally. I'm getting tired of just sitting here."

Suddenly the chains holding both Goten and him disappeared, causing the two to fall to the ground. Since he had been standing without support for the past few hours, Yusuke's legs didn't like the idea of standing. But he eventually got to his feet. Just in time to get knocked down by an overjoyed Keiko who had just walked through a door that had appeared out of nowhere.

"You're okay!" she shouted as she held him in a hug and Yusuke couldn't help but grin.

"Geez Keiko. I'm okay. Just a bit stiff." He took notice of the blood on her clothes. "What about you?"

Her only reply was to grin and hug him tighter. "I'm okay. Now."

**Part 7: Reunion with a Brother **

"**A**lmost twenty minutes wasn't it?" Trunks asked as he helped his friend up. "Can't have been more than thirty minutes that I left you alone in the office with a pretty girl and you got yourself into trouble." He shook his head. "I can't leave you anywhere, now can I?"

Goten laughed lightly. "I guess not. Although I wouldn't have gotten into trouble if you hadn't gotten kidnapped that first time."

"I guess you're right," Trunks said with a laugh before pointing over at the group gathering at the door. "What do you say that we head home? Our moms probably have had at least two heart attacks each by now."

Goten nodded. "Sounds good and I know the first thing I'm getting when I get home."

Trunks frowned. "A lecture from your date for standing her up?"

Goten shook his head. "No. A hair cut."

**Part 7: Reunion with an Ally**

"**Y**ou actually came," Takahashi said with a smile as she and Kaiba walked over to the door where Poseidon was waiting to send them home.

Kaiba frowned. "I just don't like interviewing people, alright?"

"So does that mean I'm not fired?"

He shook his head. "You didn't really leave on your own." He paused before saying, "By the way, your boyfriend called."

She shook her head. "It's okay. I already know. By the way," she suddenly gave him a peck on the cheek, "thanks for saving me."

He turned his head away and said, "I didn't save you for the sake of saving you. I only did it because I don't like interviewing people."

Takahashi grinned. "Sure. But I'm taking tomorrow off."

For a second Kaiba considered telling her no but she did deserved it. "Fine but you have to be back in the next day half an hour early."

She grinned again. Nothing had changed and nothing would change. Now that the trials were done.

**A/N: I'm never giving myself only two and bit of weeks to write something like this, ever again. My brain started to die at the end so this will most likely be redone and please forgive me. I actually really enjoyed writing this although I'm a bit worried about how I wrote everyone's characters. Goten didn't really show up much in GT so I took some liberty with his personality. And I learned that I can't write Keiko and Kaiba for long periods of time. At least I don't think so. Basically what I'm saying is if anyone is hugely OOC please tell me so that I can fix them. Also any suggestions for the stuff following second trial would be awesome. And I hoped you enjoyed the story. I know I did… at least I did until my brain died after Trunks' battle with Toguro. Man that was awesome. Anyways, see ya!**

**-D101**


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